July 22, 2010

As Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tried to pressure her into resigning, Sherrod says Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook called her Monday to say "do it, because you're going to be on 'Glenn Beck' tonight." And for all the focus on Fox, much of the mainstream media ran with a fragmentary story that painted an obscure 62-year-old Georgian as an unrepentant racist....

The administration's concern about Beck stems in part from his campaign last year that prompted the resignation of White House environmental official Van Jones over divisive remarks -- a controversy that some news organizations acknowledged they were too slow to cover. Ironically, Beck defended Sherrod on Tuesday, saying that "context matters" and he would have objected if someone had shown a video of him at an AA meeting saying he used to pass out from drinking but omitting the part where he says he found Jesus and gave up alcohol.

154 comments:

Ironically, Beck defended Sherrod on Tuesday, saying that "context matters" and he would have objected if someone had shown a video of him at an AA meeting saying he used to pass out from drinking but omitting the part where he says he found Jesus and gave up alcohol.

Kurtz is actually well to the left of center (or he'd never have a job at the Washington Post).

Sorry the sarcasm tags didn't work, Big Mike - it was a reference to the earlier thread where Demented Harold whinged that rightwingers endlessly quote Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and everyone else pointed out that the only people who obsess over what Beck says are leftwingers.

I suspect I know why the NAACP freaked out on this one. I believe that Andrew Breitbart uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what goes on at NAACP events. It's likely that there are MANY videos out there from NAACP events where people talk openly about their hatred for some white people. They didn't stop to think that in this particular incident, there might be something in the story that exonerates the speaker.

So, either Breitbart has those vidoes already and his practicing his perfected form of entrapment (as he did with ACORN) or they will soon be in his hands.

Because they know this woman was hired as part of the Pigford settlement. They thought they could distance themselves from that slick little move by dumping her when things got hot.

Sherrod will now sue both Breitbart and the USDA (that's you folks). Breitbart and every other blogger who tackled this story will need to start their own investigations of Pigford cause there's Journolister or employee of a Journolister who will tackle it. Game on.

I suspect I know why the NAACP freaked out on this one. I believe that Andrew Breitbart uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what goes on at NAACP events. It's likely that there are MANY videos out there from NAACP events where people talk openly about their hatred for some white people. They didn't stop to think that in this particular incident, there might be something in the story that exonerates the speaker.

Suspect

Believe

Likely

Might

Post the videos when you have them. I would be interested to see them. Until then, you are speculating and fanning the flames.

Yes, there's some kind of gap in the video presented by the NAACP. If there is something definitive on that gap, I would be extremely interested in seeing that.

Understandable, since he preemptively exposed you as a dishonest asshole who would try to smear a white man speaking with a black wife and son as a racist.

Exposed me? I tried to smear a white man?

I never linked to Think Progress, vouched for them, nor did I even ask for your worthless opinion in the first place. Another crushing epic fail for you, again, I'm afraid. You'd fit right into Andrew Breitbart's race-baiting organization. One thing you and Breitbart need to learn is that just because you say something, it doesn't make it true.

So are you going to take back the claim "[e]xposed you as a dishonest asshole who would try to smear a white man speaking with a black wife and son as a racist"?

Ironic that you call out misdirection, seeing that your first post in this thread was nothing but an attempt at misdirection.

No I was just linking to Con Yankee, who AC245 trusts as a source since he links to him. Ac245 seems concerned about an Ackerman email that was lifted out of context, [and without linking to a source], purportedly showing violence. I linked directly to two Con Yankee public posts advocating violence and wishes of death. You tell me.

Another crushing epic fail for you, again, I'm afraid. You'd fit right into Andrew Breitbart's race-baiting organization. One thing you and Breitbart need to learn is that just because you say something, it doesn't make it true.

GasRage defends ThinkProgress and issues a challenge to find a an incomplete, and heavily edited third-hand video from them.

How can I defend something I didn't even mention! It was an obvious riff on Breitbart's shenanigans. I'm sure everyone caught that except you.

This AC245's version of "defending think Progress"

Unless you can back that up with an incomplete, and heavily edited third-hand video exchanged anonymously for an undisclosed amt. of money, with fraudulent and totally misleading analysis -- complete with horrifically incorrect facts and date stamps by someone who calls them-self a journalist, published and signed for all the world to see, [and for future inquisitive journalists to dissect], well, it's hard to take you seriously.

Note, no mention of Think Progress whatsoever.

Ac245:No. I think instead I'll just re-link your comment where you parrot the debunked ThinkProgress smear that the white man speaking with his black wife and child is a racist.

Once again you have a debilitating reading and comprehension problem. I never claimed the man in the video was racist, fool. Your own link you provided said "you be the judge". Parrot means "repeat" verbatim. dumbfuck.

I highly doubt the right wing in this country really needs you to be "fighting" on it's behalf.

How can I defend something I didn't even mention! Note, no mention of Think Progress whatsoever.

Here's your full comment, GasRage. I've taken the liberty of bolding the relevant part:

garage mahal said...Think Progress eh? Breitbart could pick up a pointer or ten from them about how to dishonestly edit a video. Unless you can back that up with an incomplete, and heavily edited third-hand video exchanged anonymously for an undisclosed amt. of money, with fraudulent and totally misleading analysis -- complete with horrifically incorrect facts and date stamps by someone who calls them-self a journalist, published and signed for all the world to see, [and for future inquisitive journalists to dissect], well, it's hard to take you seriously. 7/21/10 7:55 PM

You really should crawl back under your rock, GasRage. All this exposure isn't doing you or your reputation any good.

You got nothing jerkoff. You're a fucking liar. But, that would make perfect sense seeing the company you run with. Just always remember, which I'll remind everyone every time your nauseating moniker comes up, that you accused me of smearing someone as racist when I obviously did not.

Let’s be fair to Garage. I caused a GasRage myself once when I came back from lunch after going to El Torrito’s and having two bean burritos and four pints of Guinness Stout. We were doing an audit in this joint in the Empire State Building. It was a long elevator ride up.

I don't know why you guys hate Glenn Beck. He does a decent radio show (I've only seen his TV show a few times long ago) and he's busted, and eliminated from government, some of the worst pieces of crap put in there. He's done his part, and terrifies the opposition - even in the WH.

Lying, race-baiting, shameless racist. Every time you comment, remember I'll be there to remind you.

LOL

garage mahal said...Better us than bitter and miserable fucksticks like you that call for spilled blood over health care bill votes. Or your racist asshole teabagger bretheren that call people n*ggers and spit on them on their way to a vote. Real darlings, you all. In truth, people like you would love nothing more than putting your boot on someones neck. That's why you always think someone else is trying to do it to you.3/21/10 10:41 PM

garage mahal said...Palin's church can't be any weirder than Obama's, and if she is a Pat Buchanan Republican I feel safer. He is about the only sane Republican I've heard these past 8 years. An truthfully I thought Buchanan's joke about Washington D.C. being "Israeli occupied territory" years ago friggin hilarious, with some truth behind it. But, I'm in the minority of liberals who like Buchanan.9/3/08 7:20 PM

"Pat Buchanan brought his conservative message of a smaller government and an America First foreign policy to Fairbanks and Wasilla on Friday as he continued a campaign swing through Alaska….In Wasilla, Buchanan took some shots at the "Republican establishment," saying it was willing to cast aside conservative ideals in a zeal to ensure the nomination for Bush. 'I'm hoping the people of Alaska will disagree that we need a candidate anointed by Washington, D.C.,' he said to a group of three dozen supporters. Among those sporting Buchanan buttons were Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and state Sen. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage."

Palin wrote to the AP that her presence at the rally and her wearing a Buchanan button were merely ways to welcome Buchanan to Wasilla, not endorsements of his candidacy.

But that's not quite how Buchanan remembers it.

Buchanan told Chris Matthews yesterday that Palin "was a brigader in 1996 as was her husband, Chris, they were at a fundraiser for me, she's a terrific gal, she's a rebel reformer."

Politifact: Palin wasn't in Buchanan's Brigade:Buchanan doesn't say that anymore. We may never be sure of Palin's position in 1996, but if she says she wasn't a Buchanan supporter and Buchanan says he can't prove that she was, we don't have much to go on.

But for our purposes, the question of 2000 is more important because that's what Moveon.org alleges in a widespread e-mail. The letter to the editor that Palin wrote back in 1999 seems pretty clear to us. Even back then she wanted to make it clear that Buchanan wasn't her choice for president in the 2000 race, which leaves us with nowhere to go but False.

Not even your idol, the great anti-semite, is peddling that bullshit anymore, GasRage. Try to keep up.

You post some already-debunked lies, and I copy and paste a block of text with links re-debunking them. Unless you're under the impression that it pains me to type Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, I don't know why you'd think that exposing your dishonesty stings.

I do, though, apologize to the other readers for assisting GasRage in disrupting this thread.

All the links are there in my comments to support my claims. You can compare for yourselves the full text of what GasRage actually said, in the context of the original thread, to the selective quotations and revisionist history he's pushing in this thread.

You post some already-debunked lies, and I copy and paste a block of text with links re-debunking them. Unless you're under the impression that it pains me to type Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, I don't know why you'd think that exposing your dishonesty stings.

You posted a link of the McCain campaign denying Palin supported Pat Buchanan. When it came up in the campaign trail, after repeated questions from the press. That's not proof idiot, that's a link to a denial. Was Pat Buchanan lying then, or now, whether the Palins attended a fundraiser for him?

You never did comment on Sarah Palin admitting she greeted pat Buchanan to Wasilla wearing a Pat Buchanan for Prez button. You can't can you?

All the links are there in my comments to support my claims.

Yes, another link. But on your that claim that I tried to smear someone as racist, you will only include the link, not the actual text, hoping people will believe your shameless lying and race-baiting without clicking on it. You fucked up and I will call you out on it for as long as it takes.

I'm with Crack. What's not to like about Glenn Beck? I haven't seen his television show, but I've heard his radio show. I've heard people make fun of him for being emotional at times, but what is a substantial reason to dislike him? (From a conservative viewpoint. Obviously he's effective, so I can see how some liberals would dislike him on that basis alone.)

Well, GasRage, since you insist on pounding this thread into the ground, and since you're too lazy or stupid to follow the links I've provided, fine, I'll cut and paste the actual text from my links to make sure everyone understands how dishonest you are.

You posted a link of the McCain campaign denying Palin supported Pat Buchanan. When it came up in the campaign trail, after repeated questions from the press. That's not proof idiot, that's a link to a denial. Was Pat Buchanan lying then, or now, whether the Palins attended a fundraiser for him?

I provided a link to Politifact, which did its own independent investigation and found the accusations you're echoing to be false. As I pointed out earlier, even your idolized anti-semitic leader admits they're not true:

So the question is this: Did Palin support Buchanan in 2000?

No. Shortly after Buchanan's visit to Wasilla, and after the AP story, Palin wrote a letter to her local newspaper making clear that her appearance at the Buchanan event wasn't an endorsement of his candidacy. Published July 26, 1999, the letter said:

"As mayor of Wasilla, I am proud to welcome all presidential candidates to our city. This is true regardless of their party, or the latest odds of their winning. When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I'll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect.

"Though no reporter interviewed me for the Associated Press article on the recent visit by a presidential candidate (Metro, July 17), the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla."

The one complication is that Buchanan appeared on CNBC's Hardball on Aug. 30 and claimed that Palin and her husband had been supporters during is '96 campaign. "She was a brigadier for me in '96, as was her husband,'' Buchanan said. "She's a terrific gal. She's a rebel reformer." Buchanan called his supporters the Buchanan Brigades.

But on Sept. 3, Buchanan told PolitiFact in St. Paul, Minn., that while he knew Palin attended his rally in Wasilla because of press accounts, he did not know if she actually supported him as a candidate in 2000 or previous campaigns. "I can't confirm anything,'' he said.

Yes, another link. But on your that claim that I tried to smear someone as racist, you will only include the link, not the actual text, hoping people will believe your shameless lying and race-baiting without clicking on it. You fucked up and I will call you out on it for as long as it takes.

Here's the text of your comment parrotting the ThinkProgress slander:-----garage mahal said... 'They conclusively showed that Soros's propaganda outfit had produced an incomplete, and heavily edited third-hand video, which is what you asked for, Buchananite.' You are correct in that the 3 links you provided are the 3 different sites. My error. But they hardly support your case. The "left Coast Rebel" link basically showed Think Progress documenting racists at Tea Party rallies -the 4 examples in question, at least 2, if not 3 out of 4 racists are indeed racists at Tea Party rallies. Think Progress corrected one error. The only possible way it's not 3 out of 4 correctly identified racists at Tea Parties that Think Progress represented is if the comment "Obama is too black", isn't necessarily racist if taken in context. "You be the judge". And you do you have a link to think Progress is on of "Soros's bought-and-paid-for propaganda outlets" ? 7/21/10 9:43 PM -----

Here's a link to the Confederate Yankee blog post debunking that slander (which I originally provided to you in this comment):-----The selective editing and inherent dishonesty from Think Progress just keep getting worse.

At the beginning of the Think Progress video claiming that Tea Party protesters are racists is a man with his bi-racial son and black wife who claims that Barack Obama is "too black to be President."

Kind of an odd statement from the patriarch of a mixed race family, isn't it? I daresay it seems like something must have been taken out of context.

And it was!

Let Coast Rebel has the entire video clip... in context.

Barack Obama's just a bad guy. That's all I can say. He's... He's too black to be President.

And you look at the color of my wife, it's not the color of his skin that troubles me, it's not the blackness of his skin that troubles me.

It's the blackness inside... his heart.

He's a bad guy.

But not bad enough to take the proud father of a handsome bi-racial son and label him to all the world as a racist. For that you need a lower life form.

The reason why garage is standing on the table to shout "racist" at the top of his lungs, is his awareness that there is no other platform on which his beloved Democrats can run.

They can't run on the economy. The recession is not only deep, but the average length of time that people are out of work has set a new record at 24.5 weeks.

They can't run on health care. The more that ordinary people learn about the contents of the health care "reform" the more likely it seems that for a large majority of us we will receive worse benefits and pay more money as its provisions start to kick in.

They can't run on effective government -- the Obama administration displayed no leadership on the Gulf oil spill. The lack of urgency is dealing with an environmental disaster contrasts poorly with the Bush response to Katrina (which itself was no demonstration of government efficiency at either the state or the local level).

Garage and his fellow travelers can only sling mud.

My prediction is that things will get worse, and I think I can also predict that if the mud-slinging gets as bad as I believe it will then a lot of Republicans will win races this fall by running on the slogan of "send a message to Nancy and Barack."

The only possible way it's not 3 out of 4 correctly identified racists at Tea Parties that Think Progress represented is if the comment "Obama is too black", isn't necessarily racist if taken in context. "You be the judge".

This is your proof that I tried to smear the man in the video as a racist? Glad you finally could bring yourself to paste the actual comment and show yourself as the fraud you are.

Here is me in the thread, reading one of your links you provided, "parroting" the text in one of your links

Update:

Racist #1 aka "Obama is too black" was not referring to Obama's skin color when you watch the video in full context.

"The administration's concern about Beck stems in part from his campaign last year that prompted the resignation of White House environmental official Van Jones over divisive remarks -- a controversy that some news organizations acknowledged they were too slow to cover."

Interesting that this doesn't mention that Beck "went after" Van Jones only after the staff members (Van Jones himself?) of the President of the most powerful nation in the world went after Glenn Beck personally.

I think this matters.

I think that it matters when someone is taking actions that are in response to specific events that those events stay part of the story. Would have Beck gone after Van Jones anyway? Likely, at some point. When Jones did something to bring himself to Beck's attention. But would it have been personal if it wasn't made personal *by this administration?* No.

Now, someone may well consider "punching back twice as hard" to be something the good-guys shouldn't do.

Obviously Beck wasn't personally attacked by the NAACP so he doesn't have a dog in the fight.

Standing on the table here for 5 yrs and not once calling another commenter a racist.

Damn, GasRage, I already pasted this comment into this very thread and yet you still repeat this lie?

Ballsy, dude. Transparently dishonest, but ballsy.

garage mahal said...Better us than bitter and miserable fucksticks like you that call for spilled blood over health care bill votes. Or your racist asshole teabagger bretheren that call people n*ggers and spit on them on their way to a vote. Real darlings, you all. In truth, people like you would love nothing more than putting your boot on someones neck. That's why you always think someone else is trying to do it to you.3/21/10 10:41 PM

Damn! garage do you realize that makes you rich? I mean I don't make six figures and since you claimed in a previous thread the middle class has vanished that makes me poor. Well no shit. You drive a BMW and I drive a Ford Focus.

Hey, do you take any deductions on your taxes? Cause if you do you need to stop doing that cause I need more of your money to offset what little I earn to make ends meet.

Stop by my house sometime if you're ever in Madison...

Wait, is this some implication you have a McMansion? I mean thats cool and all but what kind of carbon footprint does that leave? Do you know what kind of impact are you having on the environment? For the love of the Prophet garage you're supposed to be a LIBERAL who cares about man made global warming! Do you have any idea the amount of fossil fuels it needs to heat and cool that place? I must say I am very disappointed in you. I thought....sorry....getting a little verklempt here....I thought you were better than that.

Or your racist asshole teabagger bretheren that call people n*ggers and spit on them on their way to a vote. Real darlings, you all.

garage, you still there? Hey, in the future can you please refer to us as Doctorracist asshole teabagger. We didn't go to racist asshole teabagger school for 10 years to be called Mister, thank you very much.

Oh Beard of the Prophet comrade hdhouse! I mean you're a media marketing professional! Don't make us rubes cut and paste, hyperlink the damn thing. You damn lefties always wanting us hoi polloi to actually work and do something.

you can honk your horn all day at Hoosier..he is brain dead and wouldn't see it if you drew him a picture.

Hi hdhouse. I see you overcame your fear of those horrid tea partiers and came out from under your bed to toss a quick post on Althouse.

Hey! Whats that behind you! OMFG its a Tea Bagger! Hehehe just kidding.

Oh...I'm sorry did I make you soil your Depends. Damn it. Ok I take the blame for that. Yes, I know, I know its costing you money to page the nurse to change you but I guess that means you'll have to cut back on some of those tax loopholes you bragged about using to avoid paying your fair share.

Damn, GasRage, I already pasted this comment into this very thread and yet you still repeat this lie?

I said another Althouse commenter. English motherfucker! Do you speak it!? [Or read it?]

Fuck you too, garage. So how much is your kid going to cost us, now that we're all going to be paying for it?

I remember that thread. Palladian was calling for spilled blood after the healh care vote, and ripped on my diabetic kid. I think that's what got my dander up. Oh well I still love him. I offered to buy some of hiss artwork, and I still have some free HP toners on my desk I was going to send him for free, but he didn't reply back.

Odd I went to an actual Tea Party here in Madison. here is what I said:

Maybe 150 people tops, from what I seen . Was cold, and damn windy though. It reminded me of a Fall musky tournament, with no fishing, and no beer. A pretty mild mannered corny right wing populism get together, it seemed.

MeadeYea man. I seen you and Ann, just leaving, and didn't want to impose. Truth is, I'm shy in real life. Ha! But if I may impose, you and Ann looked genuinely happy together, which is great. Sincerely.

You should have just crawled back under your rock. Now you sit out in the open, exposed as a lying, racist, anti-semitic, ThinkProgress propaganda stooge.

Nah, you can fool dupes like Big Mike with your blizzard of links, obfuscation, and lies - and like I said before your opinion means absolutely nothing. Other people definitely. You, never. You are incapable of conversing as an adult. Period. I'm sure in that word document of every post I've ever made on the internet that you keep on your computer you could have showed the post I made on me going to the Tea Party and reporting it was a friendly affair. But that would make you honest, with humility. Someone searching for some truth. But of course you're the farthest thing from it. You're an AceHole!

In another thread I had commented that when Fox requested the WH fire Sherrod they did. When the next day they requested that they rehire her, they did. Or at least are trying to.

Now it turns out it is worse than that. They are so trained in Pavlovian response, Fox didn't even have to ask them to fire her. They thought Fox *might* ask them to fire her and that was good enough for this gang. They were so desparate to get her gone, she had to resign via text message.

Fox REALLY gets results.

As I said, the WH dances like a puppet with Fox pulling the strings. Or not even pulling the strings. That is some Pavlovian conditioning.

PastaWhich part? Specifically. Quick example. That I called someone a racist? Sarah Palin didn't wear a Buchanan button? Pat Buchanan didn't claim she was a brigadier for him? What. So I know I'm not in a parallel universe next time I see you.

He's quite good on the radio, and I listen often. He can be very funny. But there are some things about him that I really dislike:

He's a shamelessly self-promoting douchebag whose principles seem to shift with the political winds. He gained notoriety by defending Terry Schiavo; but then popular opinion turned against keeping her alive, and he decided that he just didn't like the looks of the people on that side of the issue -- he just didn't want to be a part of that circus, is how he put it, I think.

After the election of Obama, Beck apparently sensed a shift to the left, and he quite suddenly started describing himself as a libertarian.

Here's another thing that really irks me: He once said that he could never vote for an atheist for any political office. And then he and his co-star proceeded to mock atheism for half the show, ridiculing callers for their beliefs (or lack thereof).

He hemmed and hawed before endorsing anyone for the Republican nomination; then only grudgingly endorsed McCain. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him endorse a third-party candidate, even if he knew it would make re-election of Obama a certainty. I wouldn't even be surprised to see him run as a third-party candidate himself.

And then he has a very exaggerated idea of his own intelligence. He'll say something like "I just see patterns, connections in things, like that guy in that movie 'A Beautiful Mind'." And he'll say this earnestly, like he believes it. And if you watch his TV show, which is awful, he'll show those connections that only he can see on a blackboard, and they're invariably nonsense.

Do you want me to copy and paste comments that are right here in this thread? Or would you prefer hyperlinks?

That's like Leon Spinks wobbling up off the canvas and saying "That turd Tyson didn't even touch me" through his bloodied and missing chicklets. "I'm not even fazed; go ahead, hit me in the mouth as hard as you can, I can take it!"

I saw Ms. Sherrod's interview on the Anderson Cooper show. She laid the blame for her firing squarely on Andrew Breitbart. She claimed that Breitbart wanted to see people like her back in slavery. While she was talking about Breitbart, CNN flashed pictures of him. The pictures were extremely unflattering--one was cropped at the top to emphasize his angry, flaring nostrils. Selective editing as they say.....I recognize that she has a right to be pissed at Breitbart, but her criticism was over the top. Does she really think that Breitbart wants to re-introduce slavery? That kind of hyperbole makes one wonder how transcendent has been her rise from bigoted feelings. Anderson Cooper did not question her on the extremity of her allegations. The narrative as seen on CNN is that Ms. Sherrod is a woman of extraordinary santliness and Breitbart is a dishonorable propagandist......Ms Sherrod grew up poor and black in the rural south. She comes by her grievances and distrust honestly, but but not every criticism directed at her is based racism.

She claimed that Breitbart wanted to see people like her back in slavery.

I'm glad she's being given an opportunity to speak, in public, in lots of different forums. Every time she opens her mouth, she undermines the whole "oh, she used to be a bigot but she Learned An Important Lesson" narrative.

I said another Althouse commenter. English motherfucker! Do you speak it!? [Or read it?]

How cute, you're fantasizing that you're a tough guy like Samuel L. Jackson!

Now, maybe I don't speak this "English" as well as you do - I certainly make my share of fopahs - but even with my feeble language skills I managed to stumble across these nuggets just by reviewing this page:

"garage mahal said......Lying, race-baiting, shameless racist. Every time you comment, remember I'll be there to remind you.7/22/10 7:41 PM"

And then, in response to Big Mike's 7/22/10 9:00 PM comment pointing out that you were lobbing accusations of racism:

"garage mahal said...... Standing on the table here for 5 yrs and not once calling another commenter a racist. You and AceHole should team up together on fact finding missions. 7/22/10 9:10 PM"

So, I guess technically you haven't "once" called another commenter a racist. You've done so multiple times -- at least three times in this very thread! Do you really think people wouldn't find more if they went looking?

(One parting question for you, GasRage: Did you take lessons on how to piss away your credibility so quickly and decisively, or did it just come naturally to you?)

Revenant: I'm glad she's being given an opportunity to speak, in public, in lots of different forums. Every time she opens her mouth, she undermines the whole "oh, she used to be a bigot but she Learned An Important Lesson" narrative.

I don't know. It seems to me, given the saintly way she's being treated, more like she's just reinforcing the idea that her attitudes are perfectly OK and normal, and conservatives are always evil in terms of race.

If people were calling her on her absurd speculations about motives, that'd be one thing, but they are nodding and smiling and talking about how wonderful she is. Just because she was wronged about one thing doesn't make her always right about everything else, but that's how she's being treated.

"Beck defended Sherrod on Tuesday, saying that "context matters" and he would have objected if someone had shown a video of him at an AA meeting saying he used to pass out from drinking but omitting the part where he says he found Jesus and gave up alcohol."

For the analogy to hold, the other AA members in the audience would have had to be cheering and saying "yeah, passed out drunk, baby, way to be!"

If Beck went to an AA meeting where people took that attitude, and someone showed a clip of a video like that, it would be appropriate to question AA.

The context of Beck's having stopped drinking would not be relevant to the finding about the organization.

I ask because my brother has a friend who sounds and writes [in emails] just like garbage, and I mean *just* like him/her. Incredibly shrill and hateful, full of accusations, ad hominems, tu qouques, misinterpretations, re-interpretations, denials of previous writings even when shown proof, full of wild claims about income and business acumen, hardcore constant equivocation, and so on.

I know for a fact the friend lives in the St Louis area. Surely there can't be two like this, can there? Are is there a school that gives training for this?

I ask because my brother has a friend who sounds and writes [in emails] just like garbage, and I mean *just* like him/her. Incredibly shrill and hateful, full of accusations, ad hominems, tu qouques, misinterpretations, re-interpretations, denials of previous writings even when shown proof, full of wild claims about income and business acumen, hardcore constant equivocation, and so on.

There is no "she used to be a bigot but she Learned An Important Lesson narrative" in her speech.

You are seeing things that aren't there and you have no idea who she and her husband really are or where they are coming from.

When you strike at her, you are striking at the heart of MLK's dream.

Developing local leadership was a strong point in Sherrod’s leadership and was an important element in SNCC's organizational model. Rather than the SNCC or some other organization fighting for the “helpless” black community, the community organized itself with SNCC leaders facilitating that organization.

Sherrod also enlisted white workers to help with voter registration. Five of the 11 workers on SNCC's local staff were white Northerners. By using interracial voter registration workers, Sherrod intended to show white Southerners that whites were equals, not superiors.

In August 1964, the all-white Democratic National Convention refused to give more than a few token positions to African Americans despite the efforts of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) in coalition with the SNCC. Sherrod traveled to Atlantic City, the site of the Convention to support MFDP. He urged them to refuse the compromise offered by Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and other leaders of the Democratic Party.

In 1966, SNCC changed direction – electing Stokely Carmichael as chairman, embracing the philosophy of black power, and expelling white members. Sherrod left the organization and in 1967 received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

The media have been silent about Shirley Sherrod's husband, Charles Sherrod, a real hero to many of us in the '60s for his key role as a leader in SNCC Charles Sherrod Ga.in building an INTER-RACIAL civil rights movement. Charlie, who was known as "the soul of the movement in Georgia," left SNCC when Stokely Carmichael took it over, expelled white folks, and adopted "black power" as its ideology, in order to continue building a black-and-white movement in Georgia. The notion that Charlie's wife could have been guilty of what's being called "reverse racism" against whites is therefore douibly [sic] ludicrous. Some of us who knew Charlie back when, however, haven't forgotten his shining example. As PBS remarked in its documentary "This Far By Faith":

"Sherrod was one of the first to practice the jail-no bail policy, which became a common tactic of the movement. When ten students were arrested for a sit-in in Rock Hill, South Carolina in February of 1961, Sherrod and three others went to Rock Hill, held a sit-in, were arrested, refused bail, and served thirty-day sentences in an attempt to dramatize the injustice of the law.

When I made that commitment, I was making that commitment to black people — and to black people only.

So at this point we've already established beyond a shred of doubt that she was a racist.

I was struggling with the fact that so many black people have lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land.

Her racism continues; she views it as problematic that she's helping a white person when black people still have problems.

So, I didn’t give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough so that when he — I — I assumed the Department of Agriculture had sent him to me, either that or the — or the Georgia Department of Agriculture. And he needed to go back and report that I did try to help him. So I took him to a white lawyer that we had — that had…attended some of the training that we had provided, ’cause Chapter 12 bankruptcy had just been enacted for the family farmer. So I figured if I take him to one of them that his own kind would take care of him.

Do the bare minimum needed so that the government doesn't complain she didn't help him. Then send him to "his own kind" to be taken care of. Pure racism.

So like I said -- that she started out as a bigot is a fact. Whether she stopped being one is debatable. Certainly she's still a bigot when it comes to non-Democrats.

Now, was her hhusband a good man? Don't know, don't care. It doesn't say anything about HER character either way.

"I have seen with my eyes whites protecting blacks with their bodies and blacks bleeding to shield whites from whites." - Charles Sherrod

Making people like this into "bigots" or people motivated by or practicing "racial revenge" is like characterizing Elie Wiesel as a bigot who came out of the holocaust living a life committed to hatred.

do you know nothing about what the deep south was like when she grew up there?

That's irrelevant.

Treating blacks better than whites is racist. Treating whites better than blacks is racist. Saying "whites were cruel and vicious to me and my family for years" is just an explanation FOR racism. Sort of like saying "my parents taught me that black people are inferior, so I don't know any better and treat them like inferiors". It is an explanation, and a perfectly understandable one. But it isn't an EXCUSE.

What happened is that until she was 17 she wanted to escape from the south in order to have a better life in the north, away from pervasive discrimination, lynchings, the hardness of farm work.

Then when she was 17 her father was murdered, and she changed her mind. She decided to stay in the south and devote her life to the civil rights movement.

She experienced a hell of a lot more than just her father's murder or a cross-burning.

Suppose I'm a peer of Ann Frank's and I survive the holocaust and 20 years later am working for a Jewish advocacy organization because I have chosen to devote my life to working for a better world. And then unexpectedly out of the blue some German guy comes through the door, and yes he's the age where yes the question is unavoidable: how did this guy live his life during the later 30's and early-mid 40's?

And then he starts saying things that sound to my ear like he's still a Nazi sympathizer. And I'm supposed to help him.

If I live through the holocaust and then decide to devote my life to Jewish causes, and then find myself unexpectedly called upon to help a German who was an adult during the war, I shouldn't be called a bigot for saying I struggled with that. That's not bigotry. That's what happens to people when sick things are done to them and they are left traumatized.

So then despite the fact that her job is TO HELP BLACK PEOPLE KEEP THEIR LAND while working for a non-profit THAT WAS CREATED IN ORDER TO HELP BLACK PEOPLE KEEP THEIR LAND, she still helps him.

And THEN, when it turns out his lawyer is screwing him over and he comes back to her she goes ALL OUT and finally finds a lawyer from 40 miles away who is successful.

Then when she was 17 her father was [repetition #975 of sad childhood story]

Like I already explained -- the context is the explanation for her racism, not evidence that she isn't racist. Just because it is understandable why somebody became a racist doesn't change whether or not they are one.

So then despite the fact that her job is TO HELP BLACK PEOPLE KEEP THEIR LAND while working for a non-profit THAT WAS CREATED IN ORDER TO HELP BLACK PEOPLE KEEP THEIR LAND, she still helps him.

If we were talking about a person whose job was TO HELP WHITE PEOPLE working for an organization created TO HELP WHITE PEOPLE, who showed reluctance to help a black person, you wouldn't hesitate for a nanosecond before -- correctly -- identifying that person as a racist. In fact, their job and their employer would be -- correctly -- taken as further evidence of that.

Um, Beck dressed in an east german communist uniform not a Nazi uniform. The book was going to be titled "Arguing with Communists" but the publisher canned the title. This is why the cover art makes no sense.

Nobody: So do you think that Jewish people who worked for organizations to help bring Jews from Ethiopia or the Soviet Union to Israel were all bigots too?

You think racism is justified if you've been wronged by that race.

In your world, its okay for the Irish to get even with the English, its okay for Poles to get even with Germans, its okay for Somoli's to get even with Ethiopeans, it okay for Native Americans to get even with everyone else.

And round and round we go. Just like all the strife in the Middle East - we'll kill you for killing our father who killed your father for killing his father, ad nas...

Why didn't you tell us you support racism before we started? Would have saved alot of time.

Some of us figured out way back, as MLK did, that we're supposed to judge people as individuals, by their important characteristics, rather than lump them into stereotypical groups by their skin color.

Others haven't gotten the message yet and may never get it. It's a lot easier to lump people together than to judge them as individuals. It's often satisfying to the emotions, since there's probably a history of mistreatment of someone on "your side" by someone on "their side." Also, there's good money to be made cashing in on the resentment of when "your side" was subject to being lumped in with groups and mistreated. So there are a lot of strong temptations to keep the racism going.

Sherrod is to be complimented on listening to her pangs of conscience after she foisted the white farmer off on a lawyer "of his own kind" (separate but equal legal representation). She went to the trouble of checking up on him and discovered that the lawyer she'd sent him to was dropping the ball. She bestirred herself and made sure he got better help. That's the redemption part of her story. It's not like she reformed her whole life; she just resisted the racism for a while. Now she's back swimming in it. But she did try, which is more than many do, and more than most of her defenders seem to expect anyone to do.